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Read a statement earlier made by the Ukraine MoD, who stated that the "main" part of their offensive has not been launched yet. He stated (as he has earlier) "you'll know it when you see it".
So as has been mentioned here a while back, it appears that Ukraine is probing and pressuring Russian lines all across the board as a precursor.
What it looks to me, is that the Ukrainian Army is trying to draw the Russians out by applying pressure in key areas.
Attacking several bridges are, from what I'm seeing, a distractive disruption.
I suspect that Ukraine is creating hotspots that's forcing the Russians to juggle men and material to counter the threat, which in turn consumes fuel (for machines and stomachs), strains logistics and presents their whereabouts for better tracking.
And I'm willing to bet that all of this is a concerted distraction to draw eyes away from where they are going to strike in force - in other words, I'm thinking that they are going to make a big push in an area that is least likely to be planned on.
Sort of like how Calais was the obvious landing spot, not Normandy.
If Ukraine can isolate Crimea, starving them out is a matter of time. I see this attack as a step in that direction ("Gosh, now you've got two bridges to fix"). There's two other routes to supply Crimea, both running past the Azov Sea and reliant upon the Russians holding the roadnet in Zaporizhia. The Ukrainians have damaged the Kerch Bridge, now have the next-closest bridge to the west stuffed, and have two more routes to shut down.
I believe this is not an accident. I think they're isolating Crimea's supply-lines in preparation for an attack to be set up when the southern offensive compresses the supply lines sufficiently.
To be honest I don't blame people for thinking that way. Approx fifteen to twenty years ago there was a time when we didn't even produce our own 7.62 ammo. I went to Bisley for a day shooting on the long ranges and we had to use Indian ammunition. The production of Rarden 30mm had been stopped completely and we had to get it from another country and its only recently been restarted. No doubt there are other examples.Really? You're comparing the US which has 6 times the population, 6 times the GDP, and goodness knows how much larger in physical land mass when compared to the UK. Hardly a balanced analysis of the situation.
The Brits can build 2 aircraft carriers, develop their own tanks, armoured fighting vehicles and artillery, their own light weapons, they have one of the largest jet engine companies in the world, and have major stakes in aircraft design, engineering, and manufacture...and yet you thought they couldn't make their own ammunition?
Your comment really is quite startling in its apparent belief that the UK and US are even in the same league when it comes to weapon production capacity.
Looking at all those coastal defense positions, I can't help but think of Singapore.This link might be useful for folk here. Radio Free Europe maintains a dashboard of Russian forces in Crimea, together with satellite imagery of some locations. It seems to be updated pretty regularly and, crucially, the sources are cited:
Interactive Map: Occupied, Militarized Crimea
As Ukrainian leaders vow to reclaim all territories seized by Russia, Moscow has prepared extensive defensive measures, particularly in Crimea, a region unlawfully annexed in 2014.www.rferl.org
Here's a screenshot:
View attachment 732028
To those talking about the retaking of Crimea, I suggest you watch the above video if you haven't already.
Husky power for the Wolverines! I like it!Ukraine army to receive Oshkosh Defense Family of Medium Trucks
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